Viruses circulating mimic the flu

Monday

Dec 10, 2012 at 12:31 PM

How do you know if you have the flu or the generic crud?

BY DWIGHT DAVISThe Dispatch

How do you know if you have the flu or the generic crud?When you have the flu, you know you have the flu.“When you have the flu, you are not going to want to get out of bed,” further explains Dr. Christopher Ohl, an expert on infectious diseases and a professor at Wake Forest Baptist Health. “Generally, you have a headache, your body aches, and you have a fever over 101. Usually, a bit of a sore throat starts.”Several viruses are circulating, and some of them are often confused with the flu. “A lot of viruses can cause runny noses and coughs,” Ohl confirms. “There's one going around now called the Adenovirus that has a lot of the same general symptoms, but it is not as severe as the flu. There's a lot of cold viruses and chest colds going around.”The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported the state's first two deaths from influenza for the 2012-13 flu season Nov. 29. Both adult victims were from Forsyth County. The state reported that one of the victims had no known risk for severe influenza illness. The DHHS reports that flu activity is increasing across the state, and the number of positive flu tests statewide has more than quadrupled since early November.However, there is no cause for panic, Ohl said. The severity of this flu season can't really be measured until the season is over. “There's nothing now that is really making us worried,” he said, and added that this year's illnesses thus far pale in comparison to other epidemics, such as the H1N1 in 2009. Ohl said the country has experienced mild flu seasons over the past few years.The flu generally stays with a person about two weeks, and once they start to improve, a cough develops.Ohl is not only an expert, the 54-year-old has had the flu himself several times during his life. He says people should not try to go to work when they have the flu in deference to spreading germs.The Center of Disease Control and Prevention designated the week of Dec. 2-8 as National Influenza Vaccination Week.Ohl says he's heard the popular objection to receiving a flu shot — it gives people the flu.“I hear that a lot. You cannot get the flu from the shot,” Ohl maintained. “People may come down with a chest cold or some other bug, but it's just a coincidence. It's like driving down Highway 52 and the sun is coming up, and you say the sun came up because you were driving down Highway 52. The sun would have come up anyway.”More than 200,000 are hospitalized from complications related to the virus, and about 36,000 people die from the seasonal flu, according to information provided by Wake Forest Baptist Health.Everyone, age 6 months and older, is strongly encouraged to be vaccinated annually against the flu virus. According to FluView, activity is most intense in the south-central and southeast of the country right now; however, it shows signs of increasing across the rest of the country as well. Most of the viruses characterized so far this season have been H3N2 viruses, which are typically associated with more severe seasons. The good news is that most of the viruses characterized at CDC so far this season are well-matched to the vaccine viruses.

Dwight Davis can be reached at 249-3981, ext, 226 or at dwight.davis@the-dispatch.com.